Shabbos Parashas Pekudei - 5774
Shabbos Parashas Pekudei - 5774
Rabbi Hal Miller
And it shall become holy. [Shemos 40:9]
At first glance, this seems to be one of the strangest parshas in the Torah.
We have just gone through weeks of intensive study about how the Mishkan was
to be built, what materials, who the suppliers would be, who the contractors
would be, etc. This week, our parsha has three distinct parts.
The first part should be very recognizable to you business executives out
there. The job is completed, now it's time for the paperwork. The Torah gives
us an accounting of the materials used and labor performed, and a review of
the techniques involved.
Then secondly, G-d apparently accepts the proposal, and tells Moshe, "go
assemble it, inaugurate it, and inaugurate the Kohanim".
The third part tells us that Moshe did exactly that. Lots of apparent
repetition. What could the Torah be trying to teach us with all this? The
parsha is the conclusion of the book of Shemos, so maybe it's just a summary?
In many years, it is read as the back end to parsha Vayakhel, so maybe it
wasn't meant to have a stand-alone message?
The Maggid of Dubno understands our parsha as Moshe's explanation about
business ethics. The Torah goes to this extent of repetition and detail to
show the level of effort that Moshe put forth to ensure an absence of
inappropriate resources applied to the building of the Mishkan. He tells us
that Moshe personally interviewed each donor to make sure that the donation
was from properly acquired material and money, and that the donor had the
proper intention in the donation. In keeping with the business analody,
Moshe was the auditor.
Sforno notes that the Mishkan was meant to last, and the First and Second
Temples did not fit the same category. Betzalel was the Divinely-appointed
architect and project manager for the Mishkan. King Solomon handled the
First Temple, and Cyrus and Ezra combined to make the Second one happen.
The Mishkan was never destroyed or captured. Both Temples were. Then he
makes a stunning observation. Our parsha makes it clear that the people
involved in the building and financing of the Mishkan were Jews of a very
high spiritual level. This was not true of the two Temples--idolators,
non-Jews and others were involved.
Rav Moshe Feinstein sees a requirement that we "be able to give an
accounting for all the bounty with which Hashem has blessed us." In his view
this includes both time and possessions, in other words, "all of your
resources", as we see in the Shema. He says that our parsha teaches us not
to "squander them on frivolities." When we reach the next world, "not only
will we be asked whether we used them for tzedakah and other aspects of
helping people, we will also be asked if we were careful to use them wisely
and productively for these purposes." But how will we know if we met this
requirement?
The answer to our questions seems to come from our pasuk. G-d declares that
the Mishkan will become holy. It doesn't say that G-d will make it holy.
What makes it holy?
Just previous to our pasuk, we read, [39:43] "Moshe saw the entire work, and
behold, they had done it as Hashem had commanded, so had they done. And Moshe
blessed them." What is it that the people had done? Generically, the commands
of G-d. What made the materials fit for use in the Mishkan? The fact that, as
Rav Moshe said, they were "dedicated totally to holy purposes."
Those who built the Mishkan, unlike those who built the Temples, did not do it
just as parnossah. They dedicated themselves to doing this for G-d. Those who
gave the materials did not just write a check to get rid of the incessant
phone calls or meshullachim. They brought unasked, and more than needed, doing
it for G-d. What made the Mishkan holy? People doing mitzvot. What is the
purpose of our parsha? To show us that it is up to us to make things right, to
take care of what needs to be taken care of. In short, it's up to us to make
things and people holy.